This is the first application filed for the present invention.
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to telecommunications service provisioning and service assurance and, in particular, to a method and system for facilitating the provisioning of telecommunications services and for monitoring provisional equipment to facilitate continuous service assurance.
Telephone companies around the world are realizing that it is possible to include existing twisted-pair loops in their next generation broadband access networks. Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC), which is well suited to analog and digital broadcast, is proving to be less than ideal for carrying voice telephony, interactive video and high-speed data communications at the same time. Fiber To The Home (FTTH) is still prohibitively expensive in a marketplace that is driven by competition rather than cost. An alternative, which is now commercially practical, is a combination of fiber cables feeding neighborhood Optical Network Units (ONUs) with final leg connections through existing twisted copper pairs used for providing telephone service. This network topology is commonly referred to as Fiber to the Neighborhood (FTTN). It uses fiber optic cable to deliver broadband services to distribution points in high-density neighborhoods or Multiple Dwelling Units (MDU), such as apartment buildings, condominiums and the like.
One of the enabling technologies for FTTN is Very high rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL). VDSL transmits high-speed data over short reaches of twisted copper pair telephone loops at downstream rates of up to 53 megabits per second over short loops, with slower speeds over longer loops. Upstream rates are slower but up to 19 megabits per second on short loops can be achieved. The data channels on VDSL are separated in frequency from bands used for Plain Old Telephone Services (POTS) and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). This enables service providers to overlay VDSL on existing telephone services. Consequently, converged service offerings that permit television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to be offered concurrently over the same twisted pair are now available. As is well understood, the delivery of such services requires complex interworking of different service provider networks. Converged services are therefore complicated to provision and provisioning can contribute significantly to start-up costs.
The provisioning of broadband services to customers has long been recognized as an area in which competitive advantage can be gained, provided the process can be at least partially automated. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,372, which issued on May 11, 1999 to Czerwiec, describes an Optical Network Unit (ONU) for installation in the neighborhood of primary and secondary video service subscribers. The ONU includes a switch matrix card for installation in the ONU with connections to POTS cards for a number of primary subscribers over a corresponding number of twisted pair copper loops. Twisted pair copper loops are also adapted to permit switch connection to switchable video cards. The switchable video cards permit video services to be enabled and disabled using a remote control work station without the dispatch of a service technician. While this invention has merit, it does not address service provisioning and service assurance.
The problems associated with the provisioning of telecommunications services remain, as do the problems associated with telecommunications service assurance. There therefore exists a need for a method and system that facilitates telecommunications service provisioning and service assurance in order to reduce start-up costs and ensure customer satisfaction by providing telecommunications services that are rapidly and reliably enabled on a promised installation date, and consistently and efficiently maintained on a continuing basis.
The invention provides a system for facilitating service provisioning and service assurance for telecommunications services, especially converged services that are enabled through such technologies as Fiber to the Neighborhood and Asynchronous Data Subscriber Line, for example.
The system includes a service provisioning and service assurance server (SPA) and operator terminals that permit service operators to post customer requests for service provisioning and service problem correction. Most of the coordination and scheduling of the provisioning and problem correction processes are performed or monitored by the SPA. Each provisioning job is scheduled and tracked by the SPA. Work orders are automatically generated in accordance with technician work schedules and skill levels, and the work orders are dispatched electronically to the technician assigned to perform a service installation or equipment repair. After a work order is dispatched, the work order is tracked to ensure that the work order is completed, with automatic interim rescheduling, if required. Any discrepancies are reported to system operations and management, to permit potential problems to be dealt with quickly and effectively.
The SPA also tracks the location and status of each customer premise equipment unit, and ensures that only registered units are permitted to access service from the service providers. Inventory tracking is also performed, and automatic reordering of customer premise equipment when inventory is low is preferably enabled.
The SPA also facilitates telecommunications service assurance after service provisioning. The SPA receives fault alarm messages from service provider network element management systems and examines the alarm messages to isolate alarms that require attention. The SPA attempts to resolve alarms using automated remote control functionality. If an alarm cannot be automatically resolved, the SPA automatically schedules a technician with an appropriate skill level to resolve the malfunction. A work order is created and the work order is electronically dispatched to the technician. The level of the alarm dictates the urgency with which the technician is scheduled. The SPA also accepts trouble reports from customers who report service delivery malfunctions by telephone, for example. The SPA issues work orders and tracks completion of customer-reported malfunctions in the same way as any other work order is tracked to completion.
The SPA therefore provides a method and system that significantly facilitates telecommunications service provisioning and service assurance. Service installation times are reduced, fraud is controlled, inventories are tracked and the status of service delivery equipment is continually tracked to ensure that equipment failures are rapidly corrected to increase customer satisfaction.